AT&T just got its first Android-powered smartphone (four more coming this year) in the HSPA 7.2-capable Motorola Backflip. The Motoblur device with reverse flip design and 3.1-inch touchscreen packs GPS, WiFi, and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and camcorder function that neatly integrates with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter or photo sharing sites like Picasa. It lands March 7th for $100 after $100 rebate and two-year contract with smartphone data plan. AT&T promo video after the break.

The DVR patent fight just got a little crazier, with Microsoft greasing itself up and jumping into the arena — seemingly to preserve the honor of AT&T. You’ll remember (maybe) that TiVo and AT&T have been having something of a fight over a few different patents primarily related to time shifting. Now Microsoft is suing TiVo, saying that it has stepped on two patents used in AT&T’s U-Verse, which you’ll recall relies on Microsoft’s Mediaroom. Want to hear some of the legal verbiage in question? “A system that displays programmable information and a secure method for buying and delivering video programs.”

It’s vague and all-encompassing, and that’s just how we like our patent kerfuffles.

We know, it was month ago, but nobody really talk about the latest Clear case for iPod Touch / iPhone 3G-3Gs / iPod Nano reselled by Sigma A.P.O Japan.

Esthetically, this new hard case has been nicely designed… But the really nice thing is if you purchase one of these cases you will contribute to the conservation of the environment, as well as the protection of threatened species.

Available in 8 different flavors (Africa, Birds, Critically Endangered, Butterfly, Babies, Rain Forest, North Pole, Under Water), and representing different threatened animals, purchasing one of these case will help Earth Wear and NGO FoE Japan to protect animals and forest.

Notice, that this year is the year of Tiger in Japanese & Chinese calendar… Explaining that the first objective is to save the Tiger…

And for those who live outside of Japan, and cannot purchase it from their country, you can ask Geekstuff4U.Com

Via Sigma A.P.O

Sprint’s got a nice head start in the 4G race over Verizon and AT&T — a message it’s heavily broadcasting these days — but with the onslaught of LTE networks and equipment around the world now just months away, momentum is unquestionably going to shift, giving the carrier every reason to act quickly to build out now and score as many subscribers as it possibly can. That seems to be the gist of a rumor coming out of AndroidGuys today that says Sprint is working on a deal with Walmart to install WiMAX cells on all (yes, all) of its locations, a move that would give it a significant boost in national coverage while presumably lowering infrastructure costs significantly.

As many Walmarts as there are, it seems like this would still leave huge coverage gaps (particularly in rural areas) between locations, but hey — maybe these guys are going for the parking lot RV crowd, which would actually make a ton of sense. Best part? You’d probably be able to buy the modem right in the store.

Normally we might not cover the formation of a new consortium with ridiculously lofty goals like this, but check it: Bell Labs has managed to corral a who’s-who of carriers, universities, government agencies, and industry labs with the goal of making communications networks more energy efficient than they are today. What makes the goal so lofty, though, is the fact that Bell wants to improve efficiency by a whopping 1,000 times — a number it says should be possible based on research it has done suggesting a 10,000-fold improvement is theoretically possible. Heavy-hitting members include China Mobile (the world’s largest carrier), AT&T, Swisscom, Telefonica, MIT, Stanford, Freescale, and the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, so we’re feeling good about the plausibility of Green Touch’s first proposed milestone: a reference architecture and sample components within five years capable of meeting the 1,000-fold improvement mark.

 The group’s first meeting is next month — just be sure to drive your plug-in hybrids to the gathering, guys.

We’re not sure why you’d want to spend $1,799 on a 5.1-channel receiver with an integrated Blu-ray deck when you can mix-and-match plenty of terrific 7.1 receivers and BD players separately for far less, but hey — it’s CES and Denon’s introducing the S-5BD in case you do. Sure, it’ll do BD-Live and do two-source, two-zone audio distribution with 3 HDMI inputs and an optional iPod control dock, but you know you’re doing something wrong when you have to buy a separate amp to use the 7.1-channel analog outputs. Denon, you have made us shake our heads in confusion.

Source: Engadget.com

This Canon PowerShot G1, released in 2000 and listed at Best Buy for $800 in 2001, has held up well. Sure, 3.34 megapixels isn’t much, but spec for spec, this codger can almost hang with the kids.

Seriously, you could just post this spec sheet next to a Canon in a retail store now, and most people wouldn’t bat an eye. They sure as hell wouldn’t buy it, but they probably wouldn’t say anything, either: In ten years, what have we gained? More megapixels, higher-quality video, some more ports, better low-light performance, smaller memory cards, better battery life, and a little compactness. Canon’s cheapest P&S, the 10-megapixel Powershot A480, handily outspecs the $800 G1 for just $110 (though it doesn’t have video). Today, if you hand Canon $800, they’ll hand you back a DSLR that shoots HD video:

What’s amazing, though, is that if you did spend $800 on this camera back in 2000, you could still use it today. It’d be beaten to hell, the zoom motor would sound like it had gained sentience and learned to experience real, mammalian pain, and the 16MB CF card would have been replaced with something a little roomier, but damnit, it would work—and your Facebook friends wouldn’t know the difference. You can’t say that about many gadgets from 10 years ago, so here’s to you, Powershot: You were great, or your category moves slow. Whichever makes you feel better.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is making a second round through the FCC testing grounds. The first time it was tested, the frequencies listed in the report indicated that it was the T-Mobile version. The new report however is about the XPERIA X10a version.

The listed 3G frequencies are 850/1900MHz, so hello AT&T and the rest that share those bands – Bell, Rogers, Telus. It’s no guarantee that any of these operators will get the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10a, but their chances just raised drastically. It’s still not too late for a “Dear Santa” letter.

So, there are two versions of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 that have passed through the FCC now, the first one seemingly designed for T-Mobile. Yet there’s still no info on when either of them will actually start selling.

To help pass the time, here are some shots of the X10 iFixit style (PDF link). You can also keep an eye on the SonyStyle USA website. They have the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 on sale and maybe they’ll get the XPERIA X10 too, if your operator of choice doesn’t. Just don’t expect to get it in time for this Christmas.

Source:  gsmarena.com

Haven’t got your Nook yet? You may actually be in luck. For people who pre-ordered early enough to expect a pre-Christmas delivery, Barnes & Noble is promising a $100 B&N.com gift card if it misses December 24th — which is apparently distinctly possible. Of course, if you’re one of the lucky / unlucky ones to have this on offer, you’ve probably already seen the email, and if you’re a different sort of hapless pre-orderer that won’t be seeing a Nook until next year, this is just another reason to curse your lot in life. To think: not only are you not ushering in 2010 from an economy suite in a space hotel, but you’re going to wrap up this year reading paper books, without $100 to show for it! Can’t we do better as a civilization?

Reports are flying in — using WiFi, we suspect — that AT&T’s having a bit of a data and SMS outage in San Francisco. Our own personal experiences confirm the data, although text messages are sending and receiving just fine. According to a tweet found by TechCrunch, customer service is saying it’ll take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to fix — sounds pretty extreme to us, and unfortunately we can’t get ahold of anyone to corroborate. Let’s put it to you, Bay Area readers, how’s that iPhone working for ya?

Update: Just got a statement from AT&T. “We are seeing a hardware issue in downtown San Francisco that is causing some degradation in service. GSM and EDGE voice and data services are still accessible. Our experts are aware and working to resolve as quickly as possible. Further resolution is expected this evening.” We tried it ourselves and, yep, if you turn off 3G capabilities on your phone (if possible), data will work just fine.

Update: Our 3G data seems to be working now, and you?

Source:  Twitter